I have been a diligent, amateur numismatist my whole life, but particularly so in the past few years. I have managed to build up quite a diverse collection so far, but there are still parts of the world from which I have no coins (or any currency). If you are from one of these greyed-out countries: we should do a coin swap.

The places that I have collected coins from shown in colour.

With an interest in numismatics, I was naturally quite interested to hear about the new bank notes that are to be introduced here in South Africa towards the end of the year: Nelson Mandela themed ones. I, as I am sure will many people who are aware of the unprecedented growth and resale value of the Madiba five-Rand coins, am certainly going to be taking a few sets of notes fresh from the press and putting them safely away with my collection. Hording and preserving a set of crisp notes will only reduce my spending capabilities by R380, significantly less than the price of Diablo 3. The levels of interest in collecting and investing in the circulation R5 coins that bear Mandela’s image, only makes me believe that any and all collectables with his image on can and will give a person good returns; not that I would ever sell my Mandela money.